Chargers to talk with Oceanside about office concept

OCEANSIDE - The San Diego Chargers will be ready next week to
begin more detailed discussions with Oceanside officials about the
viability of constructing high-end office buildings along with a
football stadium on a city-owned golf course, a team spokesman said
Friday.

"This will be a chance for all of us to decide whether this
concept would be worth pursuing and, if not, what other concepts
deserve to be examined," said Mark Fabiani, the Chargers lead
negotiator on the stadium issue.

Fabiani said that the Chargers have a meeting scheduled with an
office developer early next week, and the team wants to arrange a
meeting with Oceanside officials after that to discuss ideas for a
stadium and offices on the 70-plus-acre Center City Golf Course
near Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard.

City Attorney John Mullen, the lead negotiator for Oceanside on
the stadium issue, said Friday that city officials are willing to
meet with the Chargers next week to talk about possible
proposals.

Team officials, city staffers and real estate brokers all said
this week there are many questions surrounding the possibility of
putting a high-end office complex and stadium on the Oceanside golf
course, but there are many possible benefits.

The NFL team says it wants to leave aging Qualcomm Stadium in
Mission Valley within the next decade for a new state-of-the art
facility. Chargers officials have identified Chula Vista, National
City and Oceanside as potential new homes.

Fabiani said Friday that the team was still waiting for Chula
Vista consultants to finish a report studying possible sites along
the San Diego Bay and in the eastern end of the rapidly growing
South Bay community.

National City has discussed a stadium on its San Diego bayfront,
and Fabiani said no new developments are expected there until
National City meets next month with San Diego State University, as
well as the city and county of San Diego, about working together to
build a stadium.

"Clearly, our focus in the last 45 days has been in Oceanside,"
Fabiani said Friday.

He said team officials have met with several large office
developers to discuss creating a high-end office complex in
Oceanside to accompany a stadium.

Chargers officials have said they are looking for a city to
provide the team with land for a stadium and a development, saying
revenues from an office, housing or shopping complex could help pay
to build the stadium.

Oceanside officials last month suggested that the Chargers
consider an office complex along with a stadium because parking
garages could accommodate businesses during the week and fans on
Sundays for games. In addition, Oceanside leaders have said they
want to see the development of more office buildings throughout the
city that could provide high-paying jobs for residents.

Local real estate agents said this week that Oceanside has never
had any "class a" offices - buildings that typically are at least
five or six stories high and feature plush lobbies, elaborate
facades, extensive landscaping and structured parking.

Alan Nevin, director of economic research for MarketPointe
Realty Advisors in San Diego, said offices are a very good idea for
the site because the parking could serve fans and office
tenants.

He said Friday there is no high-end office market in Oceanside,
but the city and team could consider giving leasing or tax breaks
to lure big companies to a large office complex.

Nevin worked with the Chargers on developing a plan to redevelop
the current Qualcomm Stadium site in Mission Valley. He said the
team is seriously studying ways to possibly move to Oceanside.

Fabiani said the Chargers are talking with developers and
studying the possibility of putting shops and restaurants, as well
as offices, on the Oceanside property.

"People have a lot of questions because it's a new idea,"
Fabiani said, who added the biggest question developers have asked
is, "There is no class a office there now, so why should we believe
there will be a market if we build it?"

Fabiani said the team needs to find a developer with lots of
resources "who is willing to see this as a long-term venture."

Developers usually build office complexes in phases and line up
most leases before construction begins, but Fabiani said the entire
project near the stadium may have to be built at once.

He said the team will need money to build the stadium, and an
office developer would have to invest more at the start of this
project than other complexes.

Local office brokers said this week that the golf course site
could be appealing because of its proximity to Interstate 5 and the
beach. Fabiani said office developers have been intrigued by the
idea of building a complex next to a stadium because the football
facility would bring people to the area.

Fabiani said developers have also been encouraged by the chance
of the city supporting a high-end office complex.

"If the public supports it, the chance the project gets done is
pretty good," Fabiani said.

The Chargers have said that if they move forward with the
Oceanside site, they would put a stadium issue on the November 2008
ballot, and Oceanside voters would have to approve changing the
parkland designation of the golf course.

City leaders said any stadium proposal would have to be a good
economic deal that wins support from the community.

Oceanside leaders have also recently stressed the need for
creating more jobs in town.

With 60,000 households and 40,000 jobs, Oceanside has fewer jobs
per household than all 18 cities in San Diego except Imperial
Beach, according to statics from the San Diego Association of
Governments. The figures show the county average is 1.33 jobs per
household. Oceanside has 0.66, Carlsbad has 1.5, San Marcos 1.6,
and Escondido and Vista each have 1.1.

Oceanside now has roughly 765,100 square feet of office space,
which is about 4.35 square feet of office space for every resident.
In comparison, Carlsbad has 37 square feet per resident, San Marcos
10 and Vista and Escondido each have 6, according to the regional
planning agency.

The amount of office space and number of jobs should increase
once construction is complete on the 400-acre Ocean Ranch Corporate
Center and 130-acre Pacific Coast Business Park in central
Oceanside, but city officials said they are looking for other
office developments.

"It's important with or without the Chargers to bring in more
office jobs," said Jane McVey, the city's director of economic
development and redevelopment.